Senior Expert (Capacity Assessment)

​​Requisition ID: 4559 
Grade: ISA-Senior Specialist 
Country: Austria 
Duty Station: Vienna 
Category: International Consultant 
Type of Job Posting: External Private Posting
Employment Type: NonStaff-When Act. Employed 
Contract Duration: 60 days (over period)
Application Deadline: 30-Sep-2024  

Vacancy Announcement
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Departments/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

The Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations (GLO), headed by a Managing Director, is responsible for UNIDO’s relations with Member States and all external partners, including through the Policymaking Organs. It plays a central role for interaction and collaboration with traditional and non-traditional donors; oversees the regional bureaus as well as the network of established field offices, liaison offices and Investment and Technology Promotion Offices; and supports the implementation of particularly complex projects, programmes and special assignments, thus also fulfilling an important role in safeguarding their quality and the reputation of the Organization.

The Division of Regional Bureaus and Field Coordination (GLO/RFO) coordinates the field representation and interventions of UNIDO in Member States and regions. Within this context, the Division is responsible for determining programmatic priorities for UNIDO’s services and ensuring that UNIDO responds to the specific needs and requirements of Member States and development partners at the country and regional levels. It facilitates the development of regional strategies, country programmes (including Programmes for Country Partnership, PCPs) and monitors their implementation.

The Division encompasses all the UNIDO field offices and the five Regional Bureaus: Africa (GLO/RFO/AFR), also hosting the IDDA III Secretariat; Arab Region (GLO/RFO/ARB); Asia and the Pacific (GLO/RFO/ASP); Europe and Central Asia (GLO/RFO/EUR); and Latin American and the Caribbean (GLO/RFO/LAC).

This position is located at the UNIDO Headquarters in Vienna under the Field and Programme Coordination function of the Division of Regional Bureaus and Field Coordination. (DGB/2024/03).

PROJECT CONTEXT

Project 180102 on strengthening UNIDO’s programmatic approaches, namely the Programmes for Country Partnership (PCPs) and the Country Programmes (CPs), UNIDO developed the project, “Enhancing UNIDO’s programmatic approaches in support of inclusive and sustainable industrial development ISID”. The project supports the implementation of the PCP Policy and Guidelines, the streamlining of UNIDO’s programmatic approaches, internal capacity-building, and reporting and communication on the portfolio of PCPs/CPs.

The project also facilitates knowledge sharing among Member States and key stakeholders on the PCP approach, and partner and resource mobilization through the South-South cooperation modality.

Project link to the overall UN, UNIDO developments and priorities:

UNIDO is committed to respond to the United Nations Development System (UNDS) reform that was initiated since the beginning of January 2017 to improve the delivery of its mandate. The United Nations has made sweeping changes in the following areas: Development, Management and Peace and Security. Management reform is about improving the UN’s ability to deliver on its mandates.

It seeks to improve its effectiveness, enabling it to act faster, more nimbly, with better information and be more accountable. Management reform seeks to achieve the objective of enhanced effectiveness and accountability through three main shifts: i) Decentralization of decision-making authority: decisions should be taken at the point of delivery to ensure effective – and timely – response; ii) Simplification of policies and procedures: policies and operational processes must be simplified and streamlined to ensure a nimbler, more efficient and effective mandate implementation globally and iii) Empowerment of senior managers: responsibility for mandate implementation must be aligned with the authority to manage resources so that heads of entities are empowered to deliver on their mandates and can be held accountable for performance.

Moreover, in light of the internal and external challenges and the changing development cooperation landscape, the Director General, at the beginning of his term, initiated a comprehensive reform process to raise the profile of UNIDO as a modern and results-oriented United Nations organization, and to strengthen its position in line with the needs and priorities of Member States. UNIDO’s field network is a crucial element of this reform process.

The overall purpose of the field reform is to further enhance the field office network as a key asset of the Organization and to bring UNIDO closer to Member States, development partners and stakeholders. Complementing UNIDO field reform principles is the consideration of the country programming elements of UNIDO. The organization has embarked on a comprehensive review and analysis of its programmatic framework namely the PCP. Based on the findings and recommendations of  an independent evaluation of UNIDO PCP approach in 2023 and taking into account the cross-organizational deliberations led by GLO on different options for a harmonized approach for country programming.

In 2024, GLO through RFO (and former GLO/FLS) embarked on a comprehensive, consultative review, analysis and revision of the PCP policy and guidelines. The revised policy provides the contextual background and rationale, objectives, definitions, guiding principles, key elements, instruments, resources, and phases of the new harmonized approach: country programming modalities i.e. CP, PCP will be merged into a single modality that includes key features of PCPs. Integral to the revised policy is the Administrative Instruction on UNIDO revised guidelines on PCP to make it operational. The comprehensive review process of the guidelines involved relevant colleagues from HQs and field aimed at identifying the gap between the guidelines and its practical application in cooperation with concerned in-house services and PCP teams. The adjustments, revisions made in the two aforementioned documents are in line with the objectives and principles of UNIDO reform particularly field reform as well as the overarching objectives of the UN reform.

Crucial to the operationalization of the revised PCP policy and guidelines are UNIDO’s assets on the ground: UNIDO Field Offices (FOs). As the roles and expectations of Field Offices have undergone change over time, FOs require a continuous strengthening of their skill sets and capacities needed to deliver along with the updated roles and functions.

The limited circulation of staff among field and HQ also limits knowledge sharing across different levels of Organization. In parallel, there is continued and increasing demand for UNIDO’s services and technical expertise and a mismatch between field presence and/or FO capacity and demand. Under the overarching undertaking of RFO on capacity development and knowledge management, a comprehensive skills gap assessment at the field level is required to have a solid basis for the implementation of trainings, learning opportunities including towards a more effective implementation of revised/revamped PCP as UNIDO’s single country programming approach.

In addition, the report of the External Auditor on the accounts of UNIDO for the financial year 1 January to 31 December 2023 included new and prior year audit recommendations relevant to Field Offices such as: TC activities and the UNDS reform are not reflected in UNIDO’s organizational structure; communication between Field Offices and HQ requires improvement; the organizational restructuring (including field restructuring) process is not sufficiently regulated. Moreover, External Auditors’ recommendation on the assessment of technical skills and KPI revision for the field is currently open.

The External Auditor encourages UNIDO Management to perform such an assessment since FOs are expected to be more involved into project activities and the extent to which they will be engaged fully depend on their skills and capacity.

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the overall strategic guidance of the Director of GLO/RFO, direct supervision of the Project Manager (Programme Officer as MAH of the project) and in close cooperation with the project team in the HQ, relevant colleagues in the division including with Field Offices, the expert will be responsible for the performance of the following main duties:

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Education: Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in economics, engineering, sciences, agro-industries, environment, business administration, or other relevant discipline with specialization in organizational/institutional or sector specific capacity and needs assessment is required.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• At least ten (10) years of professional experience in organizational development including institutional capacity and needs assessment, is required. 
• Experience/knowledge of other development agencies, including the United Nations agencies in at least one region, is desirable.
• Experience in organizational development including institutional/sector capacity and needs assessment is required.
• Experience in evaluating, assessing the needs and conditions of organizations in developing countries as well as experience in developing forward looking capacity building strategies is desirable.

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Fluency and/or working knowledge of another official UN language or local language particularly Spanish/French is desirable.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core values:
WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.

WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.

WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Key competencies:
WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.

WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.

WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.

WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal.
Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System. Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process. Selected candidate(s) may be required to disclose to the Director General the nature and scope of financial and other personal interests and assets in respect of themselves, their spouses and dependents, under the procedures established by the Director General.